- Three former employees of the Office of the Chief Justice are caught up in a row over owning a company that is now a subcontractor to a company doing work for courts.
- They say they have done nothing wrong.
- However, the main contractor, Thomson Reuters, is putting the subcontract on hold while it investigates.
Thomson Reuters has put its contract with ZA Square on hold and launched a formal investigation following a report by the Sunday Times insinuating three former senior staffers of the Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) set themselves up to benefit from its contract with the OCJ.
"We are looking into this matter with the utmost seriousness, and have launched a formal investigation to understand the facts," Thomson Reuters spokesperson Dave Moran told News24. "During this investigation, all work with the subcontractor, ZA Square, has been put on hold." He said CaseLines plays a significant role in improving access to justice and reducing court backlogs in South Africa.
"Our immediate priority is to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter."
The former spokesperson and court administration specialist for the OCJ, Nathi Mncube, said he and two colleagues did nothing wrong when they formed a new company and then resigned after becoming local partners to Thomson Reuters after it had been awarded a contract with the OCJ.
The Sunday Times reported Mncube, former CFO Casper Coetzer, and former case management director Yvonne van Niekerk set themselves up for a R67.5 million slice of a R225 million IT contract awarded to Thomson Reuters for its CaseLines service.
CaseLines offers a cloud service to courts and the legal fraternity for paperless case preparation and presentation, and for document and audio uploading, and sharing.
The publication reported the three resigned and worked their last day on 31 May, then started work at their new company on 1 June to officially start with their new venture.
There was some consternation over this on social media, but Mncube told News24 it was all above board.
He said they did not communicate with Thomson Reuters while the main contract was being decided, and their company has no contractual relationship with the OCJ.
Mncube added the OCJ contact for the provision of licences and support for CaseLines was awarded to Thomson Reuters. After this award, it entered into a procurement process in which ZA Square participated and [was] ultimately awarded a subcontract.
Government procurement prescripts flowing from the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA) made subcontracting a requirement for contracts exceeding R30 million, he said.
"As subcontractor, ZA Square therefore has [no] contractual relationship with the OCJ."
Asked to respond to the perception they benefitted from their proximity to the OCJ, Mncube added: "The perception is unfortunate."
He said the Thomson Reuters/OCJ contract followed a National Treasury sole source process.
"Essentially, there was no inside information that we would have had to share with [Thomson Reuters] in order to secure a subcontract. We did not even engage [Thomson Reuters] before the OCJ awarded the contract.
"The communication on the Thomson Reuters award was done by the OCJ procurement office. None of us communicated with [Thomson Reuters] on the award or the 30% subcontract requirements."
Mncube added there was also no law or prescript for a restriction of trade or a cooling-off period in the public service.
"Furthermore, there was no clause relating to restriction of trade in any of our employment contracts with the OCJ.
"We fully appreciate the confusion caused by the lack of understanding of government procurement processes.
"The contract between Thomson Reuters and ZA Square is between two private companies, not regulated by government procurement processes. In this instance, it was a PPPFA requirement for Thomson Reuters to subcontract 30% of the contract to a local vendor."
He said the award of the main contract occurred before ZA Square engaged in any communication with Thomson Reuters, and it was only established after the OCJ awarded the contract to Thompson Reuters.
ZA Squared positions itself on its website as a consulting firm established by former colleagues who understand the importance of societal access to justice and delivering public services.
They boast years of combined expertise and experience in six disciplines.
Mncube said the three of them were not obliged or required by any prescript to inform anyone about their intention to submit a bid to Thomson Reuters.
"However, we were, by law, required to declare financial interest at the end of the financial year. As a result, we did our e-disclosure in April 2022 that we had a company that was registered but not generating any income at that stage."
The OCJ issued a brief statement saying it was made aware of the report and was gathering all relevant information and taking legal advice.
"At the appropriate time, the OCJ will inform the public on the matter. We can assure the public that the state funds relating to this matter are safe. In view of this, the OCJ will not at this stage be making further comments or providing any additional information in this regard."
In the meantime, Public Interest SA founder Tebogo Khaas asked that the contract be suspended.
@thomsonreuters alleged corruption at @OCJ_RSA Office of the Chief Justice. cc: @TheJusticeDept @StateDept pic.twitter.com/ZlC2x2XX5a
— Public Interest SA (@propublicaSA) June 12, 2022
Comment from Thomson Reuters will be added once received, but the company told the Sunday Times the local company was awarded the subcontract on merit and it had no contact with the three directors as part of the bid process.
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